By Rachel Mohamed Housing rights activists under the banner of the United Social Congress in the Western Cape are calling on residents to join a mass march against evictions to take place next Wednesday, 29 October, in the city. Speaking on VOC News, Chief John Johnson, Prime Minister of the USCK, one of the Khoi kingdoms in the Western Cape, has blamed the provincial and national governments, stating that they […]
When two Rapid Support Forces (RSF) soldiers stormed Nadir el-Gadi’s home in Khartoum on April 23, they demanded to know which side of the Sudan conflict he supported – the RSF or the Sudanese army. The 77-year-old responded that he wasn’t with either side. “I said we are against this war. We are prisoners of this war,” el-Gadi told Al Jazeera on Saturday. “They were suspicious,” el-Gadi said, adding that […]
LOCAL he South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has kicked off its second round of sittings on allegations of law enforcement brutality during land evictions in the Western Cape. Commissioner Chris Nissen says they have received several complaints in the Southern Cape and Cape Town on allegations of excessive force being used by law enforcement agencies during removals and demolishing of shacks. The first hearings were in Knysna earlier this year. The […]
The Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI) says the violent, callous and unlawful demolition of people's homes continue to frustrate the country's objective to curb the spread of Covid-19. SERI has called on the Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Lindiwe Sisulu to issue a directive to stop the demolition of homes by all municipalities. "A home is the first line of defence against infection, it is essential […]
There was shock and outrage on Wednesday after City of Cape Town law enforcement officers aggressively pulled a naked man from his shack to evict him. The man was apparently bathing in his shack in Enthembeni informal settlement, close to Empolweni in Khayelitsha when the officers arrived. In video footage doing the rounds on social media, the naked man is seen being physically manhandled and sprayed with pepper spray by […]
A group of 27 social justice organisations has issued an urgent call for a moratorium on evictions during the Covid-19 state of disaster, raising concerns that evictions would lead to "displacement and homelessness" as the virus spreads across the country. Last Sunday, President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national state of disaster following an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases in the country. As of Saturday, the total number of […]
North Dakota's governor has ordered the expulsion of thousands of Native American and solidarity activists camped on government property near an oil pipeline project they are trying to stop, citing hazards posed by harsh winter weather as a blizzard bore down on the area. The "emergency evacuation" order from Governor Jack Dalrymple came days after the US Army Corps of Engineers, which manages the site, said it would give the […]
VOC became the first Muslim radio station in South Africa when a special events license was granted to the station in Ramadan/January 1995. Subsequent temporary broadcast licenses were granted, permitting the station to broadcast for 24 hours.
